Dictatorship in History and Theory: Bonapartism, Caesarism, and Totalitarianism (Publications of the German Historical Institute)

Bringing together the work of historians and political theorists to examine the complex relationships among nineteenth century democracy, nationalism, and authoritarianism, this study pays special attention to the careers of Napoleon I and III, and of Bismarck. An important contribution is consideration of not only the momentous episodes of coup d'etat, revolution, and imperial foundation which the Napoleonic era heralded, but also the contested political language with which these events were described and assessed. Political thinkers were faced with a battery of new terms--"Bonapartism," "Caesarism," and "Imperialism" etc ... --with which to define their era Cover......Page 1 Half-title......Page 3 Title......Page 7 Copyright......Page 8 Contents......Page 9 Contributors......Page 11 Preface......Page 13 I......Page 15 II......Page 21 III......Page 30 IV......Page 36 V......Page 38 PART I Bonapartism to Its Contemporaries......Page 41 a first step: consul for life......Page 43 a successor to bonaparte?......Page 48 the last stand of the old revolutionaries......Page 50 a ‘debate’ in the tribunate......Page 54 the senate responds......Page 61 2 The Bonapartes and Germany......Page 67 3 Prussian Conservatives and the Problem of Bonapartism......Page 81 I......Page 97 II......Page 99 III......Page 101 IV......Page 104 V......Page 108 VI......Page 112 conclusion......Page 115 5 Marx’s Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte......Page 117 marx and history......Page 119 marx and marxism......Page 122 marx and english prose......Page 132 conclusions......Page 135 6 Bonapartism as the Progenitor of Democracy......Page 143 the bonapartist territorial system......Page 146 centralization and its dysfunctions......Page 150 the empire’s decentralist response......Page 154 the resistance of the administrative centralists......Page 159 the balance sheet of bonapartist decentralism......Page 161 PART II Bonapartism, Caesarism, Totalitarianism......Page 167 7 Max Weber and the Avatars of Caesarism......Page 169 avatars of caesarism......Page 172 of politics and sociology: a tale of two discourses......Page 180 the qualities of the caesarist politician......Page 183 conclusion......Page 187 8 The Concept of Caesarism in Gramsci......Page 189 dictatorship between marxism and liberalism......Page 211 liberalism, exceptions, and the sovereign dictatorship of procedures......Page 224 conclusion......Page 232 10 Bonapartist and Gaullist Heroic Leadership......Page 235 the heroic variant of charismatic authority......Page 238 constitutionalizing the heroic leader......Page 241 the interdependence between personal and popular sovereignty......Page 246 heroic legends and institutional legacies......Page 249 11 The Leader and the Masses......Page 255 the leader......Page 259 the masses......Page 265 conclusion......Page 270 PART III Ancient Resonances......Page 275 12 Dictatorship in Rome......Page 277 I. “classical” or “regular” dictatorship......Page 279 II. dictatorship revived: sulla and caesar......Page 283 The Problems of Sullan Dictatorship......Page 284 The Meaning of the Sullan Dictatorship: Interpretations and Reality......Page 285 The Dictatorship of Caesar......Page 286 François Hinard and Claude Nicolet......Page 290 13 From the Historical Caesar to the Spectre of Caesarism......Page 293 Index......Page 313 This book is unusual in bringing together the work of historians and political theorists under one cover to consider the subject of nineteenth- and twentieth-century dictatorships. A distinguished group of authors examine the complex relationships among nineteenth-century democracy, nationalism, and authoritarianism, paying special attention to the careers of Napoleon I and III and of Bismarck. An important contribution of the book is consideration not only of the momentous episodes of coup d'etat, revolution, and imperial foundation that the Napoleonic era heralded, but also the contested political language with which these events were described and assessed. Political thinkers were faced with a battery of new terms -- "Bonapartism," "Caesarism," and "Imperialism" among them -- with which to make sense of their era. In addition to documenting the political history of a revolutionary age, the book examines a series of thinkers -- Tocqueville, Marx, Max Weber, Antonio Gramsci, Carl Schmitt, and Hannah Arendt -- who articulated and helped to reshape our sense of the political. A distinguished group of historians and political theorists examine the complex relationship between nineteenth-century democracy, nationalism, and authoritarianism, paying especial attention to the careers of Napoleon I and III, and of Bismarck. An important contribution of the book is to consider not only the momentous episodes of coup d'etat, revolution, and imperial foundation which the Napoleonic era heralded, but also the contested political language with which these events were described and assessed. Political thinkers were faced with a battery of new terms -'Bonapartism','Caesarism', and'Imperialism'among them - with which to make sense of their era. As well as documenting the political history of a revolutionary age, the book examines a series of thinkers - Tocqueville, Marx, Max Weber, Antonio Gramsci, Carl Schmitt, and Hannah Arendt - who articulated and helped to reshare our sense of the political. This book brings together the work of historians and political theorists to examine the complex relationship among nineteenth-century democracy, nationalism, and authoritarianism. Political thinkers were faced with a battery of new terms - 'Bonapartism', 'Caesarism', and 'Imperialism' among them - with which to make sense of their era Edited By Peter Baehr, Melvin Richter. Some Articles Previously Presented At The Hunter College Conference, 1999. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.